Fluff and more!
by Claramont
Summary: Kaider oneshots of Cinder and Kai just being darn cute together!
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO GUYS! It's been so long since I've written anything...and I've been pretty bad at updating some other chapters of my other fics...sorry :P But, anyways, finals are coming up, and I am super excited and nervous, and I thought I'd channel it by writing some super fluffy Kaider oneshots. (My favorite ship ever!) For everyone with finals coming up, at least you don't have to travel to the moon to overthrow your evil aunt, right? Enjoy!**

 **-starstruck02**

Cinder groaned and rubbed her eyes. Everything was perfect, but something was just missing. Was it the blankets? The air conditioner? No, something was not right in her bedroom. She yawned and rolled over into Kai. But wait, Kai...was not there...

Cinder bolted up in her bed, eyes wide open. She took in the now familiar surroundings of the ornate master bedroom of the palace. It was 7 months since her wedding, and Cinder loved every minute of it, especially those spent with Kai. Earth was once more peaceful, and Luna had a new queen, Winter Blackburn Hayle. Negotiations with Luna were amiable and friendly, and many Earthens expressed their approval of Winter as queen. Thorne and Cress had set up a chain of letumosis antidote pharmacies throughout the world, although the need for it grew less and less. They were planning to travel once there was no need for any more letumosis shipments. As for Sacrlet and Wolf, they were happily settled in France, growing tomatoes and raising their newborn daughter Michelle Benoit Kesley.

Fully awake, Cinder looked around. Kai was nowhere to be seen. Before their marriage, Kai would always be awake at night, working on politics and speeches for the never ending cycle of ruling an empire. Now, though, at Cinder's concern, Kai had taken to sleeping the full night, which Torin could not thank Cinder enough.

So now, instead of understanding, Cinder was filled with suspicion. What was Kai doing? Slowly, Cinder stepped onto the rich carpet, and put on her bunny slippers that Iko had gotten for her at the market square. Slipping on her robe, Cinder tiptoed out to the hallway, where their private kitchen light was glowing from under the door. With curiosity, Cinder stepped forward and pushed open the door ever so slightly, to reveal Kai eating a big slice of chocolate cake, the one Cinder had been eyeing since the beginning of the day.

"Hey! I said that was mine!" Cinder stormed into the kitchen, half serious and half feigning her anger. Kai calmly looked up, and gave Cinder a sly smile.

"Well, too bad. I beat you to it," Kai smirked, his copper eyes glinting.

Cinder, smiling coyly back, lunged for the plate, taking Kai by surprise, and knocked him to the ground.

"Ha, cyborg one, sneaky cake stealing prince zero," Cinder took a big forkful of cake.

"Emperor, you mean," Kai muttered as he dusted himself off.

Cinder smirked at him and took another bite.

"Well, since you're up, can we at least share?" Kai put on his best puppy eyes, and Cinder, whose one weakness just happened to be that, threw her hands up in despair.

"Alright, just don't take too much. You had a head start," Kai grinned and grabbed another fork.

"Yes! Emperor one, cyborg one. We're both even," Kai laughed and tugged Cinder's hair playfully. Cinder just smiled, and licked chocolate frosting off her hands.

"This cake is really sweet," Cinder remarked.

"Yeah, it is. But you know what's even sweeter?" Kai smiled.

"What?"

"You."

 **Didya like it? I may be a little rusty, so the story won't be as smooth as I hoped, so please don't be too harsh on the reviews! I just came up with this prompt on my own, but maybe for the next few I will use prompts from other places. Like I said, I'm in the mood for some really fluffy one-shots. Wish everyone the best of luck in life! ( I know it was a little short, I'll try to make the other ones a little longer.)**

 **-starstruck02**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Summer is finally here, and I have lots of time now...to write more fanfics! I just saw on instagram a barista AU, which I thought was super adorable, and decided to make a TLC version of it. Note that I changed the AU a little to my preference, but the original idea came from an instagram post. Hope you guys are having a great summer right now!**

 **-starstruck02**

 _ **Cinder POV**_

Her alarm blared, playing heavy metal rock, which Cinder found to be the most efficient in getting her out of bed in the morning. Not because she liked it, of course, but it aggravated her so that she would get out of bed to turn it off. Groggily, Cinder zombie-walked into the shower, and 30 minutes later, a somewhat presentable version of herself walked out.

Cinder headed down the stairs to where Iko was reading the newspaper. Her electric blue hair shimmered in the bright kitchen light.

"Hey Cinder, did you sleep well? I have a conference meeting today so I can't stay long. I'll be home at around 6 today, and I'll bring some takeout with me for dinner." Iko tossed her blue hair back, and smiled at Cinder, revealing dazzling white teeth. Iko was Cinder's oldest friend and room mate. She was a fashion designer, and owned her own fashion company, Blue Sunrise.

"That sounds great, hope your conference meeting goes well,' Cinder grinned. Iko snorted.

Cinder grabbed her car keys and headed outside to her car. It was old, but reliable, and it's gas mileage was amazing. Cinder was a bioengineer at one of the biggest research facilities in New Beijing (making this up as I go, just let me do my thing), Luna Tech. Cinder was devoted to creating advanced prosthetics for severed limbs which would allow people to control their artificial limb. Cinder herself was using a prosthetic for her left hand and limb due to a fire as a child. They were bulky, and hard to control sometimes, and Cinder always wished for an easier alternative.

But despite being a highly respectable bioengineer with a respectable pay, Cinder, like the average population, needed her coffee. It was absolutely crucial that she get her morning coffee, or her day was ruined. There was a Starbucks on the way to Luna Tech, and Cinder was eagerly driving, listening to the morning radio.

"Due to last night's rainstorm, trees and branches were knocked to the ground, which caused many streets to close down. Unfortunately, workers have not been able to remove these obstacles yet due to their large size, and civilians are encouraged to take the freeway instead of local streets today."

Cinder whipped her head up and scanned the road. Sure enough, about 50 feet ahead, there was a massive branch blocking her route to her coffee, and her workplace. Cursing, Cinder U-turned and took the alternative way to Lunar Tech, which was longer and less convenient. Shaking her head, Cinder was miffed at the thought of missing her coffee, and made her way to Lunar Tech.

Five minutes later, as if her unspoken prayers were answered, Cinder noticed a Starbuck's to her left. A grin splitting from ear to ear, Cinder eagerly drove into the parking lot, and parked as fast as she could.

 **Kai's POV**

It was a regular Wednesday, and Kai could not have been more bored. His shift ended at eleven, and even after that, Kai had a meeting with his father to discuss the current stock of their company, Commonwealth Inc. Taking this job was his friend Thorne's idea, who declared that Kai was too antisocial, and needed to meet more people. As a result, Kai was verbally forced into applying to be a Starbuck's barista. Kai did his best to flunk his interview, but Thorne managed to get Kai the job by flirting with the interviewee. Sometimes Kai hated his best friend.

So here he was, taking orders from 15 year old girls trying to flirt with him. It was annoying, and nerve racking. Kai sighed, and stacked the plastic cups for the tenth time, and the bell ringed at the door, alerting Kai of another customer. Kai looked up, and nearly dropped the cups. Standing before him was probably the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his life. She had her hair in a messy ponytail, and had the most gorgeous eyes he'd ever seen. (Ok, so I just want to point out that it's Kai who always has the nice eyes, and I thought, Cinder needed to be included on that too:) Looking down, Kai noticed that she had a prosthetic hand and leg, which didn't take away from her beauty at all. Baffled, Kai reddened, and busily took the order of a middle aged woman who was just before Cinder. As he was preparing, um, he checked the cup, Melody's drink, his mind wandered to the beautiful girl who was next in line. How could he ask her out, maybe after his shift? No, it was only nine, and he got off at eleven. There was no way she would stay that long. He could just ask her out in line? No, that would be a death sentence. Shaking his head, Kai thought hard as he poked a straw into the caramel frappacino and handed it to the girl at the counter.

Taking a deep breath, Kai forced himself to walk to the counter as naturally as he could. He smiled, or at least, tried to.

"Sorry for the long wait, I'm the only one working here right now," Kai tried to look apologetic.

"It's okay, there's no rush," the girl gave him a huge smile. Kai nearly fainted. There was no way he could find the nerve to ask her out right now at the counter.

"Alright, what would you like?" Kai squeaked out.

The girl squinted up at the menu,"I'll have a tall cappuccino," she said, after a couple of seconds.

Kai wrote it down on the cup. "And what's your name?" Kai was eager to know what her name was.

"Cinder," Cinder replied.

Kai wrote Cinder's name down.

"And your last name?" Kai suddenly realized his mistake and cursed himself mentally.

Cinder looked at him oddly.

"Umm..I didn't know this Starbuck's did that. But anyway, it's Linh. Linh Cinder." Red from humiliation, Kai scribbled Linh onto the cup.

"Okay, wait one minute, I mean moment, or, whatever. I'll be right with your drink," Head down, Kai shuffled to the counter behind him, and started preparing her drink.

 **Cinder's POV**

The moment she walked in the door, Cinder couldn't help but noticed the really cute barista at the counter. He had silky black hair that sorta swept across his eyes, and he constantly had to shake his head to see. Cinder suddenly wondered if she could always use this Starbuck's as her main coffee place.

After the girl in front of her went, Cinder ordered a cappuccino. The boy, Kai, she read on his nametag, was incredibly shy, which Cinder found adorable. Cinder desperately wanted to get to know him better.

 **Kai's POV**

Normally, for such a simple order, it took Kai about a minute to get a drink ready. In this case, it took him about 3 minutes. Luckily, or unluckily, Cinder was the only customer in the store, which gave Kai some panic time.

He was freaking out. The girl Cinder probably thought he was some sort of freak, asking random girls their last name so he could search them up on social media. The worst was running through his head as he handed Cinder the drink.

"Thank you, come again soon," Kai said. Sadly, he thought, she'll probably never come here ever again, because of my idiotic thinking.

Cinder, who was grabbing some napkins, took out a pen from her bag and as scribbling something, as Kai was facing he back wall out of shame. Cinder finished, and poked Kai. Surprised, Kai whirled around to see Cinder handing him a napkin.

"Thanks Kai, I hope I see you again," Cinder smiled shyly, and Kai, bewildered, took the napkin. Kai couldn't move until Cinder had left, and when she did, he opened the napkin and read what was written on it.

A phone number, and a message:

 _Call me :)_

 **What did you guys think? I'm a little rusty , so this probably isn't the best fanfic I've written, but tbh, it's my favourite au so far. I would appreciate if you guys would review, and I hope I gave you an enjoyable story!**

 **-starstruck02**


	3. Chapter 3

**OH MY GOD GUYS! I had the funniest AU lightbulb moment ever! What if the TLC crew met at band camp?! And their personalities were reflected through the instruments they played? I'm such a nerd, but I think this would be the cutest thing ever :):):):):):) Please don't judge my band geek side too much *chuckles nervously* Enjoy!**

 **-starstruck02**

Cinder set her case down by her side. It was a week before school started, but Cinder was excited. It was probably her most favourite week of the year. Band camp. Despite being new, Cinder felt sure she was going to fit in with this. Stars, she was the best mellophone player in her old school, and was accepted into a county honour band three years in a row. Grinning in nervous excitement, Cinder picked her case up and walked toward the band room. A mass jumble of people were clustered around. Cinder checked her watch. Camp started at 9 am, but everyone was here 15 minutes early. Setting her mellophone down, Cinder quietly stood by the edge of the group and starting observing the herd, flock, gaggle? What do you call a group of humans?

A red haired girl was arguing with a tall, blond guy. They seemed to be arguing over whose range was better. There was also a short, blond haired girl who had adorable freckles. She was intensively reading her drill sheet, squinting to find her positions. (Drill sheets are like maps where you can see where you are positioned for marching field shows.) A couple, or at least that's what Cinder thought they were, were standing close to each other and talking softly. The girl had mocha colored skin, and was probably the most gorgeous girl Cinder had ever seen. The boy had ice blond hair, and piercing blue eyes. He look a little like a stone statue, but he was smiling affectionately at the girl. There were also two more guys, a huge, wolf-like person, who looked liked he could beat his companion up without sweating a drop. His friend, who was the main reason Cinder looked toward them, was smiling, and his eyes were bright and carefree. Looking at him made Cinder swoon on the inside. There were other people, but these seven stood out to her the most.

A few minutes later, the guy talking to his huge friend suddenly caught note of Cinder standing awkwardly with her case, trying not to look so lonely. He came over to her, and Cinder forced herself to smile naturally.

"Hi, I'm Kai. I heard you would be joining us this year. Mr. Clay, the band director, was informed that we had a new member to our band. I'll be your drum major this season, by the way." Kai stuck his hand out for Cinder to take. Cinder took it, and shook hands with him. She hoped her palms weren't too sweaty.

"Thanks, I'm Cinder. So, you're drum major? You don't look like one to me," Cinder immediately regretted saying that.

"I mean...well...I just thought..I thought you played an instrument. I saw your case next to you," Cinder half lied, suddenly spotting the rectangular case that had Kai's name on it. Kai laughed good naturedly.

"It's okay. I can see why you thought that. This is my first year as drum major. Our last one graduated last year. Her name was Levana. To be honest, you should be glad you never met her. She is one scary drum major!" Cinder smiled as she saw Kai smile too.

"So, what instrument did you play before becoming drum major?" Cinder was curious.

"I play the saxophone, it's an amazing instrument. If you're ever interested in learning, I could teach you." Kai said.

"Thanks, but I'm sticking with my own instrument," Cinder replied.

"Come on, you probably need friends. And I have just the right people I want you to meet," Kai smiled and held out his hand to Cinder. Baffled, Cinder, took it, and let Kai lead her to a group of people.

 **4 hours later (It's band camp, it lasts from 9am-9pm This is the struggle of band life)**

Cinder was exhausted. It was about a year since she had marched, and her arms and legs were aching. Still, she had it easier than Wolf, the huge guy Kai had introduced her too, who was carrying an extremely large tuba. Cress, the sweet, short girl, played piccolo, and really well too. She was in the same county honor band as Cinder this year, and Cinder was actually looking forward to seeing her there.

Scarlet and Thorne, who Cinder realized were sort of frenemies, were both trumpets. Which kind of explained their loudness and competitiveness. Scarlet obviously was the superior of the two, her range was incredible, and she played some crazy tunes for Cinder a couple hours ago. Thorne was still a great player, and was always challenging Scarlet to a range contest. (Just for those who don't know, I'm pretty sure many of you do, your range is how high and low you can play) And much to the dismay of the whole band, Scarlet always accepted. Cinder's ears were still ringing from their last match. (Scarlet won, of course.)

Winter, who was nice as she was pretty, was in color guard. She was beautiful to watch whenever she spun her flag. This year, she was head of color-guard, and she was proving to a good one too. Winter was eccentric about band, and was constantly cheerleading everyone on when they were too tired to go on.

Jacin, on the other hand, hated band. The only reason he joined was so that he would be with Winter. Jacin was in pit, the easiest group, he pointed out, since they didn't have to march. Despite his father being band director, Jacin was not a fan of marching band, only of Winter.

There was also another person who Cinder actually really, really, enjoyed being with. Her name was Iko. She was a fellow mellophone player, and section leader of the mellophones. She was overall an energetic and fun person. Iko had bright blue hair, which was in a high ponytail. Iko had taken an extreme liking to Cinder, and seemed intent on being friends. It wasn't a hard job for Iko, and they had hit off right away.

Lunar High marching band was one of the best marching bands Cinder had ever seen. Kai was an impeccable conductor, and everyone was actively trying their best, unlike Cinder's old school, where everyone tried to ditch to do drugs or something. The people were really friendly too. The group Kai had introduced to her were really friendly and amazing musicians. Wolf and Scarlet were dating, which Cinder was surprised to hear, bit as she watched, they were really compatible and suited each other nicely. Jacin and Winter were also dating, which was no surprise to Cinder. Thorne and Cress were dating too, which made Cinder choke on her drink at lunch, and had to be hit on the back by Kai. Cress was so sweet, and Thorne, well, Thorne, was the opposite of sweet. But Cinder had to admit, Thorne was gentler and kinder when he was around Cress, so that had to account for something. Iko and Kai were both single, which surprised Cinder a lot. Iko was really pretty, and had a great personality. And Kai, well, who wouldn't want him? He was kind, smart, and in the honour society at Lunar high. Cinder was actually a little glad when she heard Kai was single, but immediately got red afterwards when Thorne shipped them.

"I even have a ship name! Kaider! (Wonder where I got that from :P) Thorne was immediately smacked by Scarlet.

 **Last hour of band camp**

The last hour of band camp was free time, due to it being the first day. The crew, as they had all decided to call themselves, were sitting together under a tree in the quad.

"It's really nice having you in our group Cinder. Now Kai actually has someone to look forward to see every day besides us." Thorne teased, and poked Kai. Kai, red-faced, mumbled something about having to go to the restroom. Cinder, also red, stayed where she was. Scarlet leaned forward, and stage whispered to Cinder.

"You know, I think Kai has a crush on you, he wouldn't stop staring at you and, it's kind of unnerving. You really should ask him out before he walks of a cliff on accident." Cress nodded, and the rest followed suit. Cinder gaped at them in astonishment.

"Really? I mean, no one has ever you know, had a crush on me before," Cinder stammered out, shocked by Scarlet's forwardness.

"You should ask him out! He would be so happy too!" Iko burst in. "He's always being tortured by freshmen girls, trying to get his phone number. You can be the scary girlfriend to chase them away!" Iko sat back, drinking out of her gallon water bottle.

"I don't know. We've only known each other for a day..." Cinder trailed off.

Kai came back to the group, mumbling about a phone call. The group barely hid their concealed laughter.

"Alright folks, let's get our instruments for _One_ last run through!" Mr. Torin's voice cut through the air. Mr. Torin was the drill coach for Lunar High marching band. He was a perfectionist, and strict. But everyone never felt intimidated around Mr. T. Sometimes he could be funny, and one time, Thorne was bold enough to throw a water balloon at his face on on hot, summer day.

Groaning, the crew picked up their instruments and trudged out to the field. Cinder was about to follow, when Kai stopped her.

"Hey Cinder, it's only been like a day since I've met you, but, I just wanted to say, I have a massive crush on you already," Kai looked really nervous.

"Oh, it's okay, I know," Cinder smiled coyly.

"What? Wait, how? Can you read my mind?" Kai looked confused.

"No, Scarlet told me," Cinder said. "And, she also said to me to ask you out. So Kai, will you go out with me?" Kai, looking extremely flabbergasted, could only nod up and down.

"I wanted to ask you first," he mock pouted. Cinder smiled back at him.

"Too bad, I beat you to it, just like I'm going to beat you to the field. Bye!" Cinder started sprinting towards the field. Kai started after her.

 _I think I'm going to like it here,_ Cinder thought, as she took her starting place on the field.

 **I really hoped you enjoyed it. I'm praying right now that some of you guys are marching band geeks, so you get the terminology. But overall, I'm a little scared for what kind of criticism I'm going to receive on this fic. I hoped it would be a fluffy fic, with a nerdy twist to it. Band geeks unite!**

 **-starstruck02**


End file.
